Site-specific antibody-mediated activation of proapoptotic cytokines: AMAIZEe (antibody-mediated apoptosis inducing cytokines)

ABSTRACT

Subject matter of the invention are antibody-cytokine fusion proteins having proapoptotic and immune modulating properties, but wherein the cytokine moiety a priori has a bioactivity which is very low or restricted to certain receptor subtypes. These reagent exert their full biological activity via the corresponding cytokine receptor(s) only after antibody-mediated binding of the fusion protein to a specific cell membrane-expressed target molecule. By suitable choice of the antibody specificity, the cytokine activity is directed to the tissue, e.g. tumor tissue, to be treated, and a therapeutic agent can be produced being specifically designed/optimized for the respective indication/tumor entity.

This application is a continuation under 35 U.S.C. 111(a) of PCT/EP01/10364 filed on Sep. 7, 2001 and published in English as WO 02/022680 A3 on Mar. 21, 2002, which claims priority from German application 100 45 591.3 filed on Sep. 15, 2000, which applications and publication are incorporated herein by reference.

The present invention relates to polypeptides which have as such no or a limited biological activity and which are only active when correspondingly activated by site-specific and antibody-mediated binding, the polypeptides containing a region being a peptide linker, further containing an antibody region or a region derived from an antibody, said region selectively recognizing a specific molecule on a cell surface, and further containing a cytokine moiety which has on its own no or only a limited biological activity. Furthermore, the present invention relates to nucleic acid sequences the polypeptides are based upon, vectors containing these nucleic acid sequences according to the present invention, cells transfected with nucleic acid sequences or vectors according to the present invention, uses of the subject matter of the present invention for therapeutic purposes, and compositions containing the subject matter of the present application.

Cytokines, e.g. members of the family of TNF-ligands, e.g. TRAIL (TNF Related Apoptose Inducing Ligand), also called Apo2L (Wiley et al. (1995), Immunity 6: 673-682, Pitti et al. (1996) J. Biol. Chem. 271: 12687-12689), and e.g. FasL, show a strong apoptotic activity on many tumor cells of animal and human origin in in vitro studies. In the case of TRAIL it appears that non-malignant cells are not affected. Moreover, in the preclinic animal model studies (mouse, monkey), no clues were found for an acute toxicity or other systemic side effects of TRAIL which could be seen as therapy limiting (Walczak et al. (1999) Nat. Med. 5: 157-163; Ashkenazi et al. (1999) J. Clin. Invest. 104: 155-162). Recent in vitro studies on human primary hepatocytes, however, showed a strong cytotoxic activity, e.g. in the case of a recombinantly produced TRAIL product and of a membrane-bound TRAIL of the naturally occurring form of this cytokine, respectively (Jo et al. (2000) Nat. Med. 6: 564-567; Ichikawa et al. (2001) Nat. Med. 7: 954-960). Therefore, a direct clinical application of the hitherto available cytokines, e.g. recombinant TRAIL molecules which completely mimic the reactivity of the membrane-bound TRAIL, is precluded. Furthermore, also for the related molecule FasL (ligand of the FasL receptor (Fas, CD95), the prototype of apoptotic cytokines, a clinical application was a priori excluded for safety reasons, since agonistic antibodies against its receptor, Fas, are extremely hepatotoxic in vivo (Ogasawara et al. (1993) Nature 364: 806-809). Finally, it was also shown that FasL in its soluble form displays virtually no bioactivity, in contrast to its membrane-bound form (Schneider et al. (1998) J. Exp. Med. 187: 1205-1213).

Consequently, the members of the family of TNF-ligands being available in the prior art are not applicable or can only be applied in a limited manner (e.g. in the case of TNF under so-called “isolated limb perfusion” conditions) for therapeutic applications, e.g. in the treatment of tumours, either due to a lack of bioactivity or due to extreme toxicity.

Therefore, the problem underlying the present invention is to exert the cytokine activity in a directed and tissue or cell specific way and, consequently, to avoid or at least to strictly limit undesirable potentially systemic side effects in clinical applications on tissues/cells which do not belong to the target tissue.

This problem is solved by the subject matter of the present application. At this, the present invention is based on the fact that naturally membrane-bound occurring cytokines have either no or only a limited biological activity, e.g. on certain membrane receptor subtypes, when they are proteolytically processed by the organism into a soluble form corresponding to the extracellular domain. This applies also to recombinantly produced derivates corresponding to the extracellular domain of the respective ligand. It is the finding of the present invention that such a cytokine having no activity/a limited activity regains its (full) biological activity, namely with respect to the target cells themselves as well as with respect to neighbouring cells, provided that these cells express the respective corresponding cytokine receptors for the antibody-cytokine fusion protein used, by e.g. antibody-mediated specific binding to a cell membrane-bound antigen.

Accordingly, in a first embodiment the present invention provides polypeptides containing (i) a segment (1) having a biological activity for a specific target molecule, (ii) N-terminally of segment (1) a segment (2) which is a peptide linker, and (iii) a segment (3) selectively recognising a further specific target molecule on a cell surface. At this, segment (3) is located at the N-terminus of a polypeptide according to the present invention, segment (2) following C-terminally at first, and segment (3) is located further C-terminally. Such polypeptides of the present invention (=fusion proteins according to the present invention, =constructs according the present invention) are biologically inactive/have a limited activity without site-specific and/or selective binding of segment (3) to the target molecule.

According to a preferred embodiment the polypeptides of the present invention contain in their segment (1) an amino acid sequence of a cytokine, a functional variant of a cytokine sequence or a fragment thereof. A functional variant means sequences which comprise at least a part, preferably at least 50%, more preferred at least 80%, of the native sequence, and which differ from the native sequence, e.g. by deletion(s), insertion(s) and/or at least one mutation. With respect to their spectrum of activity or their functionality, the functional variants in the sense of this invention are largely or almost congruent to the native embodiments. At this, a sequence homology of at least 90, preferably at least 95 and most preferred at least 97% to the corresponding native sequence is preferred. A functional fragment can be N-terminally, C-terminally or intrasequentially shortened native cytokine sequences, in particular certain domains, preferably at least one, more preferably an extracellular domain of the native full-length sequence. Also, biologically active variants of these fragments are disclosed according to the present invention.

In this context, such cytokines, functional variants or fragments thereof are preferred, which are members of the TNF-family.

Further preferred are such polypeptides of the present invention which contain as segment (1) an extracellular domain (or the extracellular sequence region) of a cytokine, a functional variant of an extracellular domain (or of the extracellular sequence region) or a functional fragment of an extracellular domain (or the extracellular sequence region), in particular if the cytokine is a member of the family of TNF ligands, especially the proapoptotic members thereof. Preferably, the derived variants in the sense of the present invention will have selective receptor binding properties, whereby the variant may be optimised, e.g. with respect to its specific bioactivity or other properties (stability).

Especially preferred as segment (1) is an extracellular domain, a functional variant of an extracellular domain or a functional fragment of an extracellular domain of TRAIL (TNF Related Apoptosis Inducing Ligand, AA 95-281, NCBI Accession No. AAC5032 U37518) or of FasL (AA 139-281, NCBI Accession No. AAC50124 U11821).

The mode of activity of such constructs according to the present invention, e.g. constructs of the invention containing the apoptotic inducer TRAIL or FasL as segment (1), applies particularly to all those members of the family of TNF ligands which are exclusively or in an especially high degree active as a membrane molecule for certain receptors. Apart from TRAIL, also TNF (analogously to TRAIL relating to TNF-R2) and also, for example, the immunemodulators CD40L and CD30L belong thereto. Therefore, especially preferred are such polypeptides according to the present invention which recognise a cell membrane-bound cytokine receptor as specific target molecule. Thereto belong also in a non-limiting list e.g. following ligands: TNFSF1 (LTalpha), TNFSF2 (TNF), TNFSF3 (LTbeta), TNFSF4 (OX40L), TNFSF5 (CD40L), TNFSF6 (FasL), TNFSF7 (CD27L), TNFSF8 (CD30L), TNFSF9 (4-1BBL), TNFSF10 (TRAIL), TNFSF11 (RANKL), TNFSF12 (TWEAK), TNFSF13 (APRIL), TNFSF13B (BLYS), TNFSF14 (LIGHT), TNFSF15 (VEGI), TNFSF16 (CD30L), TNFSF18 (AITRL) and EDA. These or their fragments or corresponding functional variants of the native sequence or of the fragments can also serve as segment (1) in a construct of the present invention. In this context, in particular all membrane-bound type 2 proteins (extracellular C-terminus), the fragments or functional derivates thereof, which depend on a terminus), the fragments or functional derivates thereof, which depend on a trimeric organisation of their subunits as a prerequisite for their biological activity, are disclosed.

The linker segment (2) between segments (1) and (3) (cytokine and antibody module, respectively) of the polypeptide constructs of the present invention represents, e.g. a flexible linkage, preferably, however, without negatively influencing the trimerisation properties of the corresponding cytokine, as shown in the examplary constructs (C), (D) and (F) (linker amino acid sequence AAAVELE (SEQ ID NO:21), cf. FIG. 4). Linkers having intrinsic di- or multimerisation properties (e.g. tri- or hexamers) are preferably chosen, e.g. in order to achieve an increased stability of the multimeric constructs, e.g. by intrinsic structural properties of the linker peptide such as coiled-coil structures and/or the formation of intermolecular disulfide bridges resulting in covalent linkages. In this case the linker (segment (2)) represents a polymerisation module.

In the case of a linker acting as a trimerisation module (linker type 2a), for example an immunoglobulin hinge region and CH3 domain of a human immunoglobulin gene (AA368-489, human IgG1, NCBI Accession No. AAF21613) is preferred (linker in examplary construct (A), cf. FIG. 4). A trimerisation module (linker type 2b) as the linker can be formed from, for example, a domain of the Tenascin molecule (AA110-139, Swiss Prot. Accession No. P10039, chicken; or Swiss Prot. Accession No. P24821, human). Finally, a linker as a hexamerisation module, thus having hexamerisation properties, can comprise a domain of the Tenascin molecule being extended in comparison to linker type 2b (AA 34-139, Swiss Port. Accession No. P10039, chicken; or Swiss Port. Accession No. P24821, human) (linker type 2c). In any case, the sequences of native polypeptides or fragments of these native polypeptides, which are employed as the linker in segment (2) of the polypeptide according to the present invention, may also be present in form of biologically active variants thereof in the sense of the invention and according to the definition given above.

Alternatively, other naturally occurring or synthetically produced linker peptides are envisaged in segment (2). In principle, a linker may correspond to a native or varied (partial) sequence of all organisms, preferably from vertebrates, in particular from mammals, especially from humans. Further, for example, all sequence segments of proteins are suitable as linkers, which generate di- or multimers by the formation of super secondary structures, e.g. “coiled-coil-helices” or typical triple helices of the collagen type (e.g. CMP, COMP, collagen, laminin). Also, segments of proteins of the Clq-family or of collectines are typically suitable for di- or multimerisation. For example, the extracellular domain of a member of the family of TNF ligands as segment (1) of a polypeptide according to the present invention can be expressed in form of a pentamer by recombination with the corresponding pentamerisation domains of COMP as linker segment (2). According to the present invention, these can be homo- or heterodi- or multimers of fusion proteins of the present invention.

Further preferred in the context of the present invention are such polypeptides wherein the segment (3) thereof contains an antigen binding antibody or an antigen binding antibody fragment. At this, a polypeptide of the present invention will then be especially preferred, when the segment (3) is an antibody or an antibody fragment of a mammal, in particular of murine or human origin, or a humanised antibody or a humanised antibody fragment, for example of mammalian origin. In the case of the humanisation, the segment (3) typically consists of an scFv of murine, humanised by CDR grafting or totally human origin, being produced according to the prior art.

Segment (3) of a polypeptide according to the present invention preferably has a specifity for an antigen being selectively or predominantly expressed in the tumour tissue. In principle, this tumour antigen can be expressed on the malignant cells themselves or also in the non-malignant part of the tumour, the stroma cells or the tumour endothelium. Such antigens of non-malignant tissue parts of a solid tumour (carcinoma) are, on the one hand, genetically invariant, on the other hand, they are present in diverse tumour entities and are, therefore, universal tumour markers. Examples of such tumour antigens, against which an antibody or antibody fragment of fragment (3) of the polypeptide according to the present invention may be directed, are the VEGFR and the VEGFR/VEGF complex, respectively, as well as Integrin a_(v)β₃ and the fibronektin isoform βFn as largely selective target structures of the tumour endothelium and the fibroblast activation protein (FAP) as a selective marker of the tumour stromas. All above-mentioned examples can be captured with specific scFvs. For this reason, such scFvs (“single chain Fv”) are especially suitable as segment (3) in an antibody according to the present invention.

Therefore, preferred for segment (3) of a polypeptide according to the present invention are antibody fragments in various antibody forms, e.g. scFv, Fab or complete immunoglobulin.

Accordingly, a preferred polypeptide according to the present invention (examples see FIGS. 2 and 3) represents a recombinant, homo-di- or -trimeric fusion protein, in principle containing the following structural elements in a defined sequence (monomer): (segment (3)) N-terminally a murine, humanised or human single chain antibody fragment (scFv) consisting of VH-peptide-linker-VL; (segment (2)) a linker sequence with or without covalent multimerisation properties, e.g. a dimerisation (2a), trimerisation (2b) or hexamerisation domain (2c); (segment (1)) C-terminally the human extracellular domain of TRAIL (AA 95-281, NCBI Accession No. U37518) or of FasL (AA 139-281, NCBI Accession No. U11821). Analogously, for example CD40L or other cytokine members of the TNF family may serve as segment (1) of corresponding polypeptides according to the present invention.

In the context of the present invention are also disclosed all di- or multimers resulting from constructs according to the present invention by specific choice of the linker (2), to which the whole disclosure with respect to the constructs according to the present invention identically refers. In so far a di- or multimer of polypeptides according to the present invention in accordance with the present disclosure always falls under the broader expression “polypeptide according to the present invention”.

Further subject matter of the present invention are DNA sequences encoding fusion proteins of the above-mentioned type of the present invention (nucleic acid constructs) or which contain such a region encoding a polypeptide according to the present invention. Such DNA sequences are expressed in expression vectors, whereby also the corresponding expression vectors containing a DNA sequence for the fusion proteins according to the present invention belong to the subject matter of the present invention. Preferably, vectors according to the present invention are capable of expression and/or amplification in a prokaryotic and/or eukaryotic cell. In particular, the present invention relates to plasmid vectors, e.g. pBABEpuro, or also retroviral vectors, in particular also all such vector systems that can be applied in gene therapy, e.g. also adenoviral vector systems. Therefore, in the context of the present invention, there are also disclosed gene therapeutic methods using vectors according to the present invention or nucleic acids constructs as a method of treatment for the medical indications which are disclosed according to the present invention.

Furthermore, the present invention pertains to such host cells which are transfected with DNA sequences (nucleic acid constructs) encoding fusion proteins according to the present invention. In this context, especially preferred are host cells being transfected with expression vectors or nucleic acid constricts according to the present invention, wherein the expression vectors again contain DNA sequences coding for the fusion proteins according to the present invention. The nucleic acid constructs are characterized in that they contains a nucleotide sequence coding for a polypeptide according to any one of the preceeding claims.

Further subject matter of the present invention are methods for the production (expression and isolation) of polypeptides according to the present invention, wherein an isolation method according to the present invention is typically characterised by (a) providing a vector or nucleic acid construct according to the present invention, (b) transfecting cells with a vector or nucleic acid construct obtained according to method step (a), (c) culturing the cells transfected according to (b), and (d) isolating polypeptides of the present invention, being expressed under appropriate conditions, from the host cells and/or the culture supernatant. The expression of the fusion protein is typically carried out in suitable expression systems according to the prior art, preferably as a secreted product of stable transfectants, e.g. CHO cells, or in other animal cells such as Cos7 or Sf9 (insect cells) or other eukaryotic cell systems, e.g. Pichia pastoris. Preferably, the expressed polypeptides according to the present invention will contain respective leader sequences suitable for the secretion in the cell system. Therefore, the vectors according to the present invention used for expression will also contain coding regions encoding a functional leader sequence, e.g. as described in Brocks et al. (Immunotechnology 3: 173-184, 1997) for mammalian and insect cells, or pPICZalpha-vectors (INVITROGEN) for expression and secretion in the yeast Pichia pastoris.

Polypeptides according to the present invention, but optionally also nucleic acid constructs, vectors or host cells (summarized here under the category “substances according to the present invention”) are also considered as medicaments or for the preparation of a medicament. They are especially of use in case substances according to the present invention are to exert their full biological activity via the corresponding cytokine receptor after antibody-mediated binding of the fusion protein to a specific target molecule expressed on the cell membrane. By suitably choosing the antibody specificity, the cytokine activity of the substance according to the present invention is directed to the tissue to be treated, e.g. a tumour tissue, and a therapeutic agent can be produced which is specifically designed/optimised for the respective indication/tumour entity. For example, in the application as a tumour therapeutic agent, in particular for the treatment of solid tumours but also of lymphatic tumours (benign or malignant), at first a polypeptide according to the present invention is specifically enriched after application in vivo due to the antibody moiety in the tumour area by membrane markers formed by the tumour itself or by the reactive tumour stroma/tumour vascular system and there it is presented to cytokine receptor-positive tumour cells or cytokine sensitive cells of the reactive tumour supplying normal tissue.

The use of substances according to the present invention is in principle also always then desirable for the application in therapy when the activation of a signal transduction pathway, e.g. the signal cascades triggered by the TNF receptor family, e.g. an apoptotic signal cascade, is to be triggered. Therefore, the use of substances according to the present invention for the treatment or for the production of a medicament for the treatment of all hyperproliferative disorders is disclosed, e.g. also for the targeted elimination of cells of the immune system in case of excessive immune reactions, e.g. autoimmune diseases such as multiple scleroses, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes mellitus and TEN, or misguided immune reactions against foreign antigens occurring in case of, e.g. infectious diseases (bacterial (for example by myco-bacteria), viral or protozoological). Further is disclosed the treatment of metabolic diseases or general hyperinflammatory conditions, in particular chronic inflammations, e.g. also allergies, but also the treatment of rejection reactions of the immune system of a patient against foreign tissues. In the cases mentioned above, the respective antigen binding segment (3) of a polypeptide according to the present invention must recognize characteristic markers of the surface of the target cells in which preferably an apoptotic signal cascade with the object of cell death is to be triggered. Therefore, in the case of the treatment after transplantation of foreign tissue, e.g. the endogenic cells of the immune system of the transplantation patient responsible for the rejection reaction will serve as the target cells.

The subject matter of the present invention such as nucleic acid constructs, expression vectors or host cells are—as disclosed above—also described as medicaments, e.g. for the treatment of the diseases mentioned above. In this case, preferably cells to be transfected are taken from the patient to be treated, said cells are transfected in vitro with expression vectors according to the present invention, cultured and then transferred into the patient as a retransplant. The transfection is preferably carried out by nucleic acid constructs or expression vectors which combine the expression with a controllable promoter. The transfected endotransplant may be, for example, locally injected—depending on the specific disease and the specific target cells. A local administration is, e.g. in the case of a tumour therapy, preferred. At this, tumour cells are taken from the patient, transfected in vitro and then, if possible, injected directly into the tumour, e.g. in the treatment of dermal tumours (e.g. melanomas), tumours of the nerve system (e.g. glioblastomas).

Further subject matter of the present invention is a composition containing polypeptides, nucleic acid constructs, vectors and/or host cells according to the present invention as well as pharmaceutically acceptable excipients, additives and/or carriers (e.g. also solubilisers). Therefore, the present invention discloses a combination of substances according to the present invention with pharmaceutically acceptable carriers, excipients and/or additives. Corresponding ways of production are disclosed in “Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences” (Mack Pub. Co., Easton, Pa., 1980) which is part of the disclosure of the present invention. As carrriers for parenteral administration are disclosed, e.g., sterile water, sterile sodium chloride solutions, polyalkylene glycols, hydrogenated naphthalenes and, in particular biocompatible lactid polymers, lactid/glycolid copolymer or polyoxyethylene/polyoxypropylene copolymers. Such compositions according to the present invention are envisaged for all medical indications as disclosed above. Moreover, compositions according to the present invention may contain fillers or substances such as lactose, mannitol, substances for covalently linking of polymers such as, for example, polyethylene glycol to inhibitors of the present invention, for complexing with metal ions or for inclusion of materials into or on special preparations of polymer compounds such as, for example, polylactate, polyglycolic acid, hydrogel or onto liposomes, microemulsions, micells, unilamellar or multilamellar vesicles, erythrocyte fragments or spheroplasts. The particular embodiments of the compositions are chosen depending on the physical behaviour, for example with respect to the solubility, stability, bioavailability or degradability. A controlled or constant release of the active substance of the present invention in the composition includes formulations on the basis of lipophilic depots (e.g. fatty acids, waxes or oils). In the context of the present invention are also disclosed coatings of substances or compositions according to the present invention containing such substances, that is to say coatings with polymers (e.g. polyoxamers or polyoxamines). Furthermore, substances or compositions according to the present invention may comprise protective coatings such as protease inhibitors or permeability amplifying agents.

In principle, in the context of the present invention, all administration pathways known in the prior art for substances or compositions according to the present invention are disclosed. Preferably, the preparation of a medicament for the treatment of the diseases or disorders mentioned above is carried out via the parenteral, i.e., for example, subcutanous, intramuscular or intravenous, oral or intranasal administration pathway. Typically, pharmaceutical compositions according to the present invention will be solid, liquid or in the form of an aerosol (e.g. spray)—depending on the type of formulation.

In summary, according to the present invention it can be noted that antibody-cytokine fusion proteins having proapoptotic and immunomodulating properties are provided containing soluble forms of a priori membrane-bound cytokines. By way of the antibody function being present in the polypeptide according to the present invention, by binding to a specific cell membrane-bound target molecule the cytokines, which otherwise have no or a limited activity, exert their full biological cytokine activity via the corresponding cytokine receptor(s). By suitably choosing the antibody specificity, the cytokine activity is directed to the tissue, e.g. tumour tissue, to be treated, and a therapeutic agent can be prepared which is specifically designed/optimised for the respective indication/tumour entity. In all, the selectivity of the cytokine activity in the polypeptides according to the present invention is achieved by two mechanisms: On the one hand via the antibody-mediated, e.g. scFv, selective enrichment of the cytokine in the tumour, the cytokine which has no or a limited activity in the non-antigen-bound state, and on the other hand through the site-specific activation of the cytokine via presentation into a molecule being fully capable of signalling, in particular also an apoptosis inducing molecule.

The present invention is further illustrated by the following figures.

FIG. 1 shows the result of a gelelectrophoretic separation after expression of a fusion protein according to the present invention (structure of the fusion protein see Example 1, TRAIL-AMAIZe(MBOS4), abbreviated in FIG. 1 as MBOS4-TRAIL). The Western blot analysis shows that the fusion protein results in a band of approximately 140 kDa under non-reducing conditions, which corresponds well with the calculated MW of the CH3-linked dimer of 2×65=130 kDa.

FIG. 2 depicts the results of studies with respect to a preferential induction of apoptosis of FAP-positive tumour cells by several AMAIZe-polypeptide examples according to the present invention. FIG. 2 shows in all panels (FIG. 2A to 2F) a plot of the cell activity (in %) against the concentration of the respective indicated AMAIZe proteins. The curves drawn in FIG. 2A (legend in FIG. 2) represent the results of the treatment of FAP-positive (HT1080-FAP) or FAP-negative (HT 1080) cells with TRAIL-AMAIZe(MBOS4) after preincubation with the FAP-specific antibody cF19 or without a corresponding preincubation.

In all further illustrated cases (FIG. 2B-F), it can be recognized that the cytotoxicity of the different AMAIZe constructs is always larger on the antigen-expressing cells (HT1080-FAP), i.e. those cells to which the AMAIZe constructs according to the present invention bind by antibody mediation, than with respect to the corresponding antigen-negative parental cells (HT1080).

The dependency of the increased sensitivity of FAP-expressing cells on the binding of the AMAIZe constructs to FAP is shown as an example in FIG. 2A: here, by competition of a Fap-specific antibody cF19 (cF19, black squares) with the AMAIZe construct TRAIL-AMAIZe(MBOS4) for the binding to the cellularly expressed FAP, the cytotoxic activity of this AMAIZe-construct with respect to the FAP-positive cell is reduced to a degree as it is also observed in the case of Fap-negative cells. In contrast thereto, the addition of cF19 has no influence on FAP-negative cells. Thus, the antibody-mediated specifity is unambigously demonstrated by competitive inhibition of the amplified induction of apoptosis via the FAP-specific monoclonal antibody cF19.

FIG. 3 shows examples of AMAIZe constructs of the present invention with TRAIL and with FasL as the cytokine module, the independent FAP-specific antibodies clone OS4 and clone 40 as well as different linkers between the antibody and the cytokine module (constructs (A)-(F)) according to the present invention). All constructs according to the present invention have the property of an antigen-dependent induction/amplification of apoptosis.

In the following, the produced constructs are represented schematically. Their specific AMAIZe activity (preferential induction of apoptosis in antigen-positive cells) is described in FIG. 2. The code chosen for amino acid sequences is the one letter code. Fragment (2) (linker) forms the linkage between segment (3) (e.g. scFv) and the cytokine moiety (1) (e.g. TRAIL or FasL in the constructs shown) in the molecule according to the present invention and, in the case of the use of special linkers such as that of the type 2a, 2b or 2c, ensures at the same time the covalent linkage of the human protein during biogenesis.

Construct (A): TRAIL-AMAIZe(MBOS4)

NH₂-[Leader]-[OS4-VH/VL]-[Linker1]-[CH3]-[Linker2]-[TRAIL(95-281)]-COOH

OS4-VH/VL: FAP-specific human single chain antibody fragment CH3: CH3 domain (AA 363-489) of a human IgG1 Linker 1: hinge region of a human IgG1 (bold) with a C-terminal poly-Gly linker (italic) (RTVAAPSVFAVFAAAVEPKSCDKTHTCPPC GGGSSGGGSG; SEQ ID NO: 18) Linker 2: poly-Gly linker (GGGGTGGGS; SEQ ID NO: 19) TRAIL (95-281): extracellular domain of human TRAIL (AA 95-281)

The linker of construct (A): TRAIL-AMAIZe(MBOS4) has dimerisation properties.

Construct (B): TRAIL-AMAIZe(OS4)

NH₂-[Leader]-[OS4-VH/VL]-[Linker]-[TRAIL(95-281)]-COOH

OS4-VH/VL: FAP-specific human single chain antibody fragment Linker: RTVAAPSVFAVFAAAVELE (SEQ ID NO: 20) TRAIL (95-281): extracellular domain of human TRAIL (AA 95-281) Construct (C): TRAIL-AMAIZe(40)

NH₂-[Leader]-[40-VH/VL]-[Linker]-[TRAIL(95-281)]-COOH

40-VH/VL: FAP-specific human single chain antibody fragment Linker: AAAVELE (SEQ ID NO: 21) TRAIL (95-281): extracellular domain of human TRAIL (AA 95-281) Construct (D): FasL-AMAIZe(40)

NH₂-[Leader]-[40-VH/VL]-[Linker]-[FasL(139-281)]-COOH

40-VH/VL: FAP-specific human single chain antibody fragment Linker: AAAVELE (SEQ ID NO: 21) FasL (139-281): extracellular domain of human FasL (AA 139-281) Construct (E): FasL-AMAIZe(OS4)

NH₂-[Leader]-[OS4-VH/VL]-[Linker]-[FasL(139-281)]-COOH

OS4-VH/VL: FAP-specific human single chain antibody fragment Linker: RTVAAPSVFAVFAAA (SEQ ID NO: 22) FasL (139-281): extracellular domain of human FasL (AA 139-281) Construct (F): FasL-AMAIZe(40-Flag)

NH₂-[Leader]-[40-VH/VL]-[Flag-tag]-[Linker]-[FasL(139-281)]-COOH

40-VH/VL: FAP-specific human single chain antibody fragment Flag-tag: DYKDDDDK (SEQ ID NO: 23) Linker: AAAVELE (SEQ ID NO: 21) FasL (139-281): extracellular domain of human FasL (AA 139-281)

The present invention is further illustrated by the following examples.

EXAMPLE 1 Expression of a Fusion Protein According to the Present Invention

A fusion protein according to the invention was expressed in CHO-DG44 cells. This fusion protein is the construct TRAIL-AMAIZe(MBOS4), abbreviated as MBOS4-TRAIL in FIG. 1, (covalent dimer) having the following structure (cf. also FIG. 3): NH₂-[Leader]-[OS4-VH/VL]-[Linker1]-[CH3]-]-[Linker2]-[TRAIL(95-281)]-COOH

OS4-VH/VL: FAP-specific human single chain antibody fragment CH3: CH3 domain (AA 363-489) of a human IgG1 Linker1: hinge region of a human IgG1 (bold) with a C-terminal poly-Gly linker (italic) (RTVAAPSVFAVFAAAVEPKSCDKTHTCPPCGGGSSGGGSG; SEQ ID NO: 18) Linker2: poly-Gly linker (GGGGTGGGS; SEQ ID NO: 19) TRAIL (95-281): extracellular domain of human TRAIL (AA 95-281)

EXAMPLE 2 Construction of the Polypeptides FasL-AMAIZe(40) and TRAIL-AMAIZe(40) According to the Invention

The fusion proteins were produced as follows:

-   1. The single chain antibody fragment (scFv) No. 40 (in the     following designated as 40) was isolated according to standard     methods based on the binding to FAP from a scFv phage expression     library which was present in the vector pSEX (see Brocks et al.,     Molecular Medicine 7: 461-469; Mersmann et al., Int. J. Cancer 92:     240-248). -   2. The scFv 40 was excised from pSEX with Pvu2 and Not1 and was     inserted into the corresponding sites of the minibody construct pW6     (Wüest, T., Dissertation, University of Stuttgart, 2001). For this     purpose, the DNA region located between these sites was removed from     the plasmid pW6 by a corresponding restriction digest and     preparative agarose gelelectrophoresis together with DNA elution. By     this cloning step, scFv 40 was cloned between an eukaryotic Ig     leader sequence (upstream of 40) and the constant region (Fc region)     of a human antibody (IgG1, downstream of 40) such that the     expression of a divalent minibody, as described by Hu et al. (Cancer     Research 56: 3055), is possible. -   3. Leader+scFv 40+Fc were amplified by proof-reading PCR using     primers 1 and 2, and the scFv fragment was inserted into the     corresponding restriction sites of the eukaryotic expression vector     pcDNA3.1 (Invitrogen) by means of the Kpn1 restriction the site     introduced by primer 1 and the Not1 restriction site located between     scFv 40 and the Fc-region. -   4a. For the final preparation of FasL-AMAIZe(40), AA 139 to 281+stop     codon of human FasL were amplified by means of proof-reading PCR     using primers 3 and 4 and inserted into the Not1 and Xba1     restrictions sites of the pcDNA3.1 cloning intermediate obtained     in 3. For this purpose, a Not1 and a Nhe1, compatible with Xba1,     restriction site were introduced into the FasL amplicon by the     primers used. The thus obtained final construct allows the     expression of the fusion protein FasL-AMAIZe(40). -   4b. For the final preparation of TRAIL-AMAIZe(40), AA 95 to 281+stop     codon of human TRAIL were amplified by proof-reading PCR using     primers 5 and 6 and inserted into the restrictions sites Not1 and     Xba1 of the pcDNA3.1 cloning intermediate obtained in 3. For this     purpose, a Not1 and a Xba1 restriction site were introduced into the     TRAIL amplicon by the primers used. The thus obtained final     construct allows the expression of the fusion protein     TRAIL-AMAIZe(40). -   5. For recovering TRAIL-AMAIZe(40) and FasL-AMAIZe(40),     respectively, HEK293 cells were transfected with a construct     described in 4. using lipofectamine (Gibco-BRL) according to the     manufactures instructions. 48 hours after transfection, the AMAIZe     construct supernatants were sterile filtered and stored at 4° C.     until further used.

All cloning and PCR amplification steps were carried out according to customary standard procedures using the following primers. All constructs were sequenced for the verification of the CDNA sequence.

Primer 1 (SEQ ID NO: 24) 5′CGG GGT ACC TCG ACC ATG GAG TGG ACC TGG CGC GTG 3′ Primer 2 (SEQ ID NO: 25) 5′CCG GAA TTC CAC AGC CAG GTG CAA CTA GTT GAG CC 3′ Primer 3 (SEQ ID NO: 26) 5′CTA GGT GCG GCC GCA GTT GAG CTC GAG GAA AAA AAG GAG CTG AGG AAA GTG 3′ Primer 4 (SEQ ID NO: 27) 5′CTA GCT AGC GTG CTT CTC TTA GAG CTT ATA TAA GCC 3′ Primer 5 (SEQ ID NO: 28) 5′GTC TTC GCG GCC GCA GTT GAG CTC GAG ACC TCT GAG GAA ACC ATT TCT ACA G 3′ Primer 6 (SEQ ID NO: 29) 5′TGC TCT AGA CCA GGT CAG TTA GCC AAC TAA AAA GGC 3′

EXAMPLE 3 Demonstration of the Antigen-Dependent Activation by FAP-Specific TRAIL-AMAIZe(MBOS4) as an Example (See Also FIG. 2A)

TRAIL-AMAIZe(MBOS4) was provided in analogy to the description in Example 2.

Subsequently, FAP-positive (HT1080-FAP) and FAP-negative (HT1080) cells were either preincubated (1 h) with the FAP-specific antibody cF19 or remained untreated. The cells were incubated over night in the presence of CHX (2.5 μg/ml) with the indicated concentrations of TRAIL-AMAIZe(MBOS4). The quantification of the surviving cells was carried out by means of crystal violet staining. FIG. 2A depicts the activity of TRAIL-AMAIZe(MBOS4) on target cells which are specifically recognized by the antibody moiety of the fusion protein (FAP-positive HT 1080).

EXAMPLE 4 Preferential Induction of Apoptosis by TRAIL-AMAIZe and FasL-AMAIZe in FAP-Positive Tumour Cells (See Also FIG. 2A-F)

15×10³ HT1080 or HT1080-FAP cells per well of a 96-well plate were cultured over night. On the next day, the cells were treated with the indicated amounts of the different constructs for further 14 to 18 hours in the presence of 2.5 μg/ml CHX (for the sensitisation of the cells with respect to the induction of the death receptor-mediated apoptosis). Finally, the viability of the cells was determined by staining with crystal violet. The respective values for untreated groups were in all cases between 700 and 850 mOD. Control groups in which all cells were prone to cell death showed values of 100 to 150 mOD. The cell death of the corresponding positive control groups was accomplished by secondary cross-linking of a soluble Flag-labelled FasL construct (500 ng/ml) by means of the Flag-specific antibody M2 (Sigma). Also in this case 2.5 μg CHX were added to the cultures.

All publications, patents, and patent applications are incorporated by reference herein, as though individually incorporated by reference. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A polypeptide comprising: (i) a segment (1) that is FasL extracellular domain consisting of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 14; (ii) a segment (2) comprising a non-multimerizing peptide linker that is linked to the N-terminus of segment (1), wherein the amino acid sequence of the linker consists of the sequence selected from the group consisting of AAAVELE (SEQ ID NO: 21), RTVAAPSVFAVFAAAVELE (SEQ ID NO: 20) and RTVAAPSVFAVFAAA (SEQ ID NO: 22); and (iii) a segment (3) comprising a single chain antibody that selectively recognizes a specific fibroblast activation protein (FAP) target molecule on a cell surface, said segment (3) being linked to the N-terminus of segment (2), wherein the FasL extracellular domain causes formation of a trimer, wherein a trimer of the FasL extracellular domain alone has no or limited biological activity, wherein the biological activity of the FasL extracellular domain trimer is activated upon binding of the segment (3) portion of the polypeptide to the target FAP molecule on the cell surface, and wherein the biological activity comprises the ability to induce apoptosis.
 2. A composition comprising a polypeptide according to claim 1, and a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient, additive and/or carrier.
 3. A polypeptide comprising: (i) a segment (1) consisting of the FasL extracellular domain; (ii) a segment (2) comprising a non-multimerizing peptide linker that is linked to the N-terminus of segment (1), wherein the amino acid sequence of the linker consists of the sequence selected from the group consisting of AAAVELE (SEQ ID NO: 21), RTVAAPSVFAVFAAAVELE (SEQ ID NO: 20) and RTVAAPSVFAVFAAA (SEQ ID NO: 22); and (iii) a segment (3) comprising a single chain antibody that selectively recognizes a target molecule on a cell surface, said segment (3) being linked to the N-terminus of segment (2), wherein the FasL extracellular domain causes formation of a trimer, wherein a trimer of the FasL extracellular domain alone has no or limited biological activity, wherein the biological activity of the FasL extracellular domain trimer is activated upon binding of the segment (3) portion of the polypeptide to the target molecule on the cell surface, and wherein the biological activity comprises the ability to induce apoptosis. 